Casimiro Lozano 1A Concert Guitar 1996 Brasilian Rosewood.

 

Presented here is a1A model by the Cuenca based luthier

Casimiro Lozano (1954). His work is highly regarded 

and his double top guitars from more recent times have

a waiting list of one year. This one is from 1996 equipped

with a spruce top and Rio rosewood sides and back.

Most likely made with the models of Ignacio Fleta in 

mind as we may conclude from the bracing this guitar 

is provided with. Scale length is 650 mm. Width at the 

nut: 53 mm. Brasilian rosewood bridge mounted. SOLD.

Luckily this guitar has been well used in the past and

the soundboard bears some marks due to that. The small

scars behind the bridge will be treated in the near future.

This picture gives the most honest view on the damages 

behind the bridge. As I recently got the comments from

a potential buyer about another guitar, I decided to leave

it as it is. Otherwise a buyer might think I'm hiding serious

damages. These imperfections often can be seen on 

classical guitars. I'm always advising to make a knot in

the highest strings on this spot. The rather slippery

higher 3 strings might pop loose.

Another picture in which you can see the strings are

making a good angle over the bridgebone but moreover

that the soundboard is still straight!

Most of the time this angle is more critical on the 

highest strings over the bridgebone. The strings could

even be lowered but that is not advisable as the

action on the 12th fret is 3 mm for the highest string

and 3,5 mm for the lowest string.

This is of course where this guitar shines as the Brazilian

rosewood in all its' beauty can be admired here. Wonderful!

The spruce soundboard can be seen and studied here

by clicking on it as well as the rosette of course.

In this guitar this label has been found and the use of

Brasilian rosewood on this one is an absolute plus.

Stunning if you are a real wood lover.

The veneer layer on the head has also been executed out

of Brasilian rosewood and the Schaller tuners are still

working nicely. A remark can be made about the topnut

as the luthier was aware of the spacing for the highest

string towards the edge of the neck: Just a bit more

room what facilitates the playing of pull offs.

I'm always adding these kind of pictures as you can 

see there is hardly any fretwear. And the fingerboard 

is real black as it should be when ebony is involved.

A close shot of the Schaller tuners. A small reparation 

was needed as the knob for the B string had too much 

play. These tuners can still be ordered under the type

announcement: Lyra GD Acrylic. Not cheap, but these

are working perfectly now.

Most likely the back has been retreated recently as it

is in a like new condition and that for an almost 30

years old one? Hmmm....

The glance makes it difficult to make a proper picture.

You need to play with extra lights on it to have a result

with hardly any reflection. Alberto Martinez of the Orfeo

magazine is a master in this field. But to be honest, he

was the photographer for BMW cars and that explains 

a lot. Nicely executed extra bindings here.

The back of the head that is free from any damage

sometimes due to placing an instrument against a wall!

John Hall 2022 Concert Guitar (Nr. 21.)

Presented here is a completely handbuilt guitar by the

English luthier John Hall. England certainly has a

tradition in guitar building. It probably has everything

to do with the earlier active luthier Louis Panormo 

who worked and lived in London. Besides that the

famous Mrs. Pratten collection was there and also

some French luthiers that moved to England already

in the late 19th century caused a growth in interest

in guitar building (and playing).  Tradition is the magic 

word there though this guitar isn't that traditionally 

built. Nr. 21 in 2022. Price 1750 Euro's. Deluxe

guitar case included

Oil finished as a whole it doesn't reflect the light 

when photographing which is a plus here of course. 

John Hall opted for a bear claw spruce top. Often

the presence of the medullar rays that are present 

on a 90 degree angle of the wood grain do raise

questions with a lot of guitar players. I can tell

you that these medullar rays only will be visible

on a perfectly quarter sawn soundboard so in

fact a sign of superb quality.

In fact nicely built in every detail as the surroundings

of the soundboard also attest. Quite unique is the use

of black walnut for the fingerboard, though it is not

black at all. The explanation around these choice of

woods is that the maple wood used for the neck is 

already quite heavy and together with an ebony 

fingerboard it should have resulted in an unbalanced 

instrument. Necks on guitars like these are usually 

made out of cedar.

The Bearclaw spruce from Switzerland can be admired

here together with the securely executed purfling. John

claims to be very critical when the woods for sound-

boards are involved. The way forces are working on

the bridge and soundboard are in good hands as

John Hall was a professional engineer as well.

In fact old tradition as the big name in building up rosettes:

Vicente Arias also was a user of the color green in his work.

We have to find out more about this remarkable builder

as the guitar is really loud and can open up even more by 

playing it frequently. The oil finish doesn't feel strange 

to me as also the neck has been treated that way as well.

A little bit oriental in the choice of the headform

to my opinion but gracefully done anyway! I think

the head to be covered by an ebony layer.

The reinforcement stripe all the way up into

the head of this guitar is visible here. And the

knobs of the tuners can be swapped if wanted.

Used for the tuners are the Rubner (German) Hauser

tuners that work very well. Quite modest in engraving

but that is not always a bad thing.

The "American black walnut" wood can be seen here

again as the luthier used it for the bridge as well. The 

harder bone cover of the string tie block mounted here

prevents any marks made by the strings under tension.

John doesn't make use of a bridgeplate as it adds little

to the strength of a soundboard. The lighter wood

used for the bridge is also a plus as it makes it 

possible for the top to vibrate more freely.

The also oil finished back gives this guitar in fact a quite

natural look though maybe not at first sight. Traditinally

we are accustomed to a more shiny appearance. John Hall

used Indian Rosewood for sides and back and rather 

surprisingly maple for the neck which is quite hard and

possibly may attribute to the nice sustain this guitar

has to offer.

No frills on the back, just giving the back a serene look.

I will try to get in touch with the luthier and I hope to

provide some more information around his work as

the man simply deserves it! We now have contact and 

we will possibly visit him in Staffordshire in the near

future if we are welcome of course. But already

having e-mail contact, John appears to be a nice 

and gentle person always willing to give more

information around his guitars. What I particularly

like is that he added specific building procedures

with a reason.

Manuel Contreras 1983 Concert guitar / Strunal Model 977 Spaanse gitaar (Als nieuw!)

1983 MANUEL CONTRERAS CONCERT CLASSIC GUITAR.
Hoewel niet gesigneerd is deze gitaar uit de beste materialen 
vervaardigd waarbij natuurlijk direct de Braziliaans palissander
zij- en achterkant opvalt. Ceder bovenblad en ondanks
de 660 mm opvallend gemakkelijk te bespelen. Prijs is

2500,- Euro's

De typische rozet uit de tachtiger jaren en uiteraard wel
wat gebruikerssporen. Hij is van een flamenco gitarist geweest
en als je goed kijkt zie je nog sporen van een slagplaat die
er toch maar afgehaald is omdat dat de trillingen in het 
bovenblad nu bepaald niet bevordert.

                                        

                                        De originele koffer die er natuurlijk bij geleverd wordt

De Jose Ramirez gitaren werden destijds in dezelfde koffers geleverd.

Fretwerk in prima staat, gevlakt en gepolijst voor zover dat nodig was.

De beroemde Fustero mechanieken die eigenlijk gewoon 

op een gitaar uit deze prijsklasse horen

Let op: Alleen deze kop behoort op een concert gitaar. De 

"Guitarreria" gelabelde gitaren hebben een andere kopvorm

en worden doorgaans van andere bouwers en/of fabrieken

betrokken. Overigens doen er nogal wat verhalen de ronde

dat Manuel Contreras Sr. zelf al niet veel meer bouwde en

dat werk overliet aan overigens prima getrainde bouwers.

Ook de achterkant ziet er nog ongeschonden uit.

Niet gesigneerd en wellicht heeft dit te maken met de 

toets die weliswaar uit ebben gemaakt is maar wat vlek-

kerig is. Deze labels maken in feite al een onderscheid 

in kwaliteitsklasse. De studiegitaren hebben een zoge-

naamd "Guitarreria" label en de concertgitaren hebben

een "Luthier" label.

Mooi zijaanzicht om de schoonheid van dit Braziliaans

palissander te laten zien. Zij en achterkant in zeer goede staat!

Wel wat playwear van de vorige eigenaar: een Flamenco gitarist.

Hij voorkwam meer schade door er een dikke plastic slagplaat

op te plakken maar die is er af gehaald omdat dat eigenlijk

de toon van een gitaar om zeep helpt, zeker als de slagplaat

te dik van uitvoering is zoals hier het geval was!

Mooi recht bovenblad en dat na al die jaren. Daarnaast is

de speelactie zeer prettig met voldoende kambeenhoogte.

In prima conditie, dit achterblad!

Wellicht voor een toekomstig eigenaar om het bovenblad

toch maar een keer te laten refinishen. Ik zou dan zeker

opteren voor het aanbrengen van French polish in de 

volksmond politoeren genoemd.

Strunal gitaar model 977.

Een Strunal type 977 uit de Strunal fabrieken van

de Tsjechische republiek. Ze produceerden daar al de 

bekende Juan Salvador gitaartjes die op elke muziek-

school wel te vinden zijn en de kwaliteit is dan ook 

navenant. Met een massief bovenblad mag je ook een 

betere klank verwachten. Deze is in "near mint" staat. 

SOLD.

Een onbeschadigde achterkant van palissander, evenals

de zijkanten. Het ziet er allemaal als nieuw uit.

Bij een nieuwe gitaar zijn spiegelingen bij het

fotograferen haast niet te vermijden....

Voor  een nadere inspectie is deze foto geplaatst.

Even op klikken voor een vergroting... 

En het label natuurlijk. De aanduiding 4/4 geeft aan

dat het gaat om een volwaardige maat instrument.

Scale 645 mm wat een prettige bespeelbaarheid geeft

 ook voor de wat kleinere handen en voor beginners.

Gracieuze kop en een goed gesneden topkam wat 

wel eens anders is. Strunal biedt veel, de prijs voor 

dit soort instrumenten in aanmerking genomen. De 

topkam is nog even lager door mij ingesneden om de

basis grepen voor beginners net wat gemakkelijker 

te maken. Overigens geoliede mechanieken.

Geen beschadigingen aan de kop van het tegen een 

muur zetten van de gitaar en prettige, goed werkende

gouden stemmechanieken met de klassieke lyre.

Ook bij de brug alles dik in orde: Octaafzuiver en

een mooi afgewerkt bevestigingsblok voor de snaren.

Mooi fijngenerfd bovenblad met een nette binding om 

bovenblad en zijbladen.

Toch even laten zien dat de frets geen enkele slijtage 

vertonen. Er is gewoon nog niet op gespeeld! Men

duidt dit vaak aan als N.O.S. wat staat voor "new

old stock" soms op de voorraadzolders van minder

goed lopende muziekzaken te vinden.

Andres Martin de Diego - Concert guitar 1960 (Signed / Dated).

 

You will not meet them frequently but Andres Martin made 

a lot of stringed instruments in his life. He has therefore been

mentioned in the Jose Romanillos dictionary as someone who 

learned his craft with Julio Bustamante and Marcelo Barbero. 

He was influenced by Santos Hernandez and Domingo 

Simplicio. He taught his brother in law, Javier Rojo Solar. 

His workshops were at the Rollo 3 and at Calle Divino Pastor 

22 in Madrid. He died in 1977. Scale of this guitar is 660 mm. 

Width of the topnut is 53 mm. Price: 950 Euro's

It must have been a lot of work to create a rosette like this...

And the same thing counts for the edge purflings.

                The scratch plate could point towards a flamenco model as

             does the cypres sides and back but classical Spanish music suits

              this guitar as well. Profound basses and a bit of the old school

              "wooden"  tone. A good example of this sound can be found on

                YouTube where Nikos Tsiachris plays a 1975 classical guitar

                    from his hand. The guitars' own frequency lies on a G#, 

                  about 104 Herz.

Here the signed label can be admired, stating that he already

was working at the Divina Pastor 22 location in Madrid.

To our believe the year written at the lower right on this

label mentioning the year 1960. Apart from that in the

inside of this guitar a stamp can be found on the upper

bout on the left side. Near the sound hole on the right

the guitar has been signed (by 2 persons?) and dated

1960 even being numbered 275 and no doubt within 

the handbuilt range we can confirm.

His graceful and immediately recognizable head, but also

showed here is the condition of the lower frets. Most of the

time an indication in what sort of condition the rest of the

fretwork is. He also used the typical Fustero tuners from 

that time. Fretwork has been levelled and polished.

                                            

Probably I will French polish the neck as it doesn't feel

that comfortable at the moment. Or leave it the way it is?

No, on the right it looks (and feels) better. 

Nice inlay work all around this instrument proving that

it is far from an entry level guitar. But that has already

been confirmed by the rosette itself.

And the Fustero tuners with the typical knob form

from the early sixties. The D tuner probably had a knock 

as it is slightly bowed. I left that way as it still works

to full satisfaction.

The Cypress back with only one small crack that already 

has been stabilized. Take a look at the lower right. Do not 

expect such imperfections to have a lot of influence 

on the sound.

And the front ands back of the head, reasonably free from 

damages. A new topnut was necessary. On later models

the small center point that sticks out, has disappeared.

That was prone to damages of course and as for me, I

would have that disappear but I know, not original any-

more than. Moreover, Martin did this later in time so

it is a confirmation for this guitar coming out of a

certain period.

This picture has been added as I used the string 

savers to get an even better angle over the bridge-

bone but they were in fact not necessary. A crack

running from the left wing of the bridge has been

repaired and is stable now. No need to worry about

that as it still was closing. No tensions there!

Another example of Andres Martins' work can

be found on YouTube: a 1975 model.